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Plaza
Right in the middle of downtown, at one end of the Fremont Street Experience, the Plaza is one of the largest hotel complexes downtown. Games Limit hold 'em: 2/4. On occasion, will also spread 3/6. No-limit hold 'em: 1/2 blinds 40-200 buyin. Only spread occasionally. The Plaza is also one of the very few hotels to actually spread Pan: they have 3 Pan tables available for play, in addition to the nine poker tables. It runs only occasionally, but it does run: I saw a game in progress with at least six players on 4pm on a Saturday. Game Character: Generally a mix of regular locals (who tend to be rocks) and tourists who are dabbling for a bit (who are unpredictable). Tournaments attract a large batch of regulars. Rake: Standard Vegas rake: 10% rake, max $4, but taken in 50-cent increments. Posting: New players need not post. Shuffling: Two tables have built-in Shufflemaster shuffling machines, remaining tables shuffled by hand. Wait Time: Can be anywhere from 0 to 30 minutes or more for a seat. Tournaments * every day, 10am NLHE $20+5, single table shootouts (single-table 10-player tourneys where first prize is $200 and everyone else gets nothing). * every day, 7pm NLHE $55+15, one $40 rebuy. Part of prize pool is a $5 bounty on each head. * every day, 12 mid NLHE $70 + 25. They have a sign that claims they also have an Omaha/8 tournament on Mondays at 7pm for $45+20, but I was there on a Monday at 7, and they only ran the NLHE tourney. Maybe there weren't enough takers for the Omaha one, so they didn't run it? Tournaments seem to be somewhat big deals here; when they go one the cash games all but halt. When the tourneys aren't running, it's usually just 2/4 being spread. Jackpots and Promotions Standard monte carlo jackpots. No bad beat jackpot. Atmosphere The Plaza is a hotel that's trying for something more than the standard Vegas Downtown Hotel experience, and is trying to edge closer to the opulence of the Strip. To some degree, they succeed - they're certainly much nicer in a hotel sense than, say, Binion's. But in other ways they don't really make it - while they've gone so far as to install a McDonald's inside their front entrance (like a Strip casino might), their casino ambience is somehow vaguely dull and claustrophobic, with somewhat dim lighting and an awkward layout. Their poker room is a case in point: despite being promoted throughout the casino and on their website, their poker room isn't a room at all; it's not separated in any way from the rest of the casino - it's merely the area at the end of the "hall" of table games where there are poker tables set up, under the same "subtle yet dim" lighting system as the rest of the casino. And yet, you can tell they are trying to do something with it; the advertising, the tournaments, the earnest poker room staff. But somehow, they've ended up spreading only 2/4. At least, they've got a reasonable tournament schedule, but they're literally across the street from Binion's, so the Plaza tourneys attract only about 20-30 players on a regular basis. Neighborhood: Right smack at one end of the Fremont Street Experience, the Plaza is beginning to escape the slightly-dingy feel of the rest of downtown and beginning to approach the more vibrant feel of the Strip - but it isn't there yet. As with any place downtown, the neighborhood can be a bit chancy. Parking: Unknown. Tables and Chairs: Standard Vegas 10-player tables are sometimes played with only 9 seats (making lots of room). Felt is worn with weak padding. Broken and worn vinyl armrests, clean commit line. No cup holders (none inset in the armrest, no slide-in holders); they have side tables instead. Player chairs are standard metal-frame fixed-leg chairs with thin padding. They're designed to look nice, but don't really succeed at that goal; they just look sort of worn out. Smoking: Not allowed in the room, but since there isn't any wall, the drift from the main casino tables nearby is significant. Service and Comps Semi-frequent standard casino cocktail service by waitresses. Notes and Links * Visited by MarkT in Nov 2006.